Teaching in Asia

Japan, Korea and Taiwan are where the money is at but think twice before jumping on the plane. By and large you’ll be entering rat race societies built upon severe class systems and chauvinism. Wasn’t that the kind of crap you wanted to leave behind when you got on the road?

We knew of one traveler teaching kids in Seoul and getting them to play games. Suddenly her boss burst in and wanted to know what on earth was going on? What was all this laughter and chaos? These children were here to learn!

Asia is big on staff bonding and the chairman of the school will frequently hold karoke parties in restaurants or bars. If you’re a woman, this is when those normally reserved male teachers will get legless and start jumping on you.

In much of Asia one is expected to be fanatically loyal to one’s company – a tattoo of the company logo across the forehead would do much in securing a pay rise. Exceptions are made for foreigners who are known to be so anarchistic as to change jobs if their boss treats them like shit. Still. you’ll do well not to ever disagree with your superiors. If they give you a crazy order just nod submissively, promise to do it right away and then promptly forget about it once you’re outside the office.

Much of the teaching in Asia centres around teaching kids. Ambitious parents, terrified that their children might be falling behind at the age of 4 and a half, will send their children to ‘cram schools’ be instructed by foreign devils.

If you find yourself in front of a bunch of frightened, bored or rebellious kids, remind yourself that they’ve already been at school for 7 hours that day. After reciting conjugations with you, they’ll still probably have 3 hours of homework to do before they can sleep.

Forgive them if they’re a little pissed off with the arrangement. Let them have as much fun as possible because the rest of their childhood is being eaten by the social obsession with getting ahead.

Most English teachers in Japan get their jobs before they arrive through programs like JET or NOVA. There are plenty of schools who post jobs independently though but all will want a bachelor’s degree.

Salaries tend to be around $2000+ a month and your school might help you find an apartment, truly a nightmare in Japan.

Tai Wan is more fun than Korea and warmer than Japan. You can turn up here and get a job but almost all of the jobs are crowd control in kindergartens.

You just turn up at a hostel, scan the jobs on the whiteboard and buy a couple of newspapers to look for vacancies. There’s better money if you’re prepared to leave Tai Pei and the foreign community of fellow teachers there.

Teaching in Thailand isn’t so well rewarded but the people are lovely. It’s also chauvinist and loaded with hierarchy but the atmosphere will be much more relaxed and fun.

You can get by teaching without a diploma in Thailand but it’s not a bad idea to buy yourself one on the Khao San Road if you want to get a work visa.

Salaries average around $500+ a month but privates can boost that considerably. Thailand is also one of the cheapest places to live in South East Asia.

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Teaching English in Asia can be frustrating at times given the cultural differences. One teacher in Japan had this to say:

“Getting along with your Japanese co-workers can be achallenge especially if you don’t speak Japanese. There iscommonly a huge disconnection between the foreign Englishteachers and the Japanese teachers. ‘They’ don’t tell you what’sgoing on so you assume nothing is going on. It’s easy to feelleft out and alone in the work place.

There will be en-kai parties where all co-workers are invited toeat a deliciously expensive meal and watch your fellowJapanese teachers toss back cup after cup of nihonshu. Ifyou’re a female watch out! This is when the normally reservedJapanese men come out of their shell. They don’t just peak theirhead out; they burst out running at you.

Of course the alcohol is one of the reasons they becomeperverts, wanting to talk about intimate sexual details, revealover-the-edge information about their mistresses andcomments about your body. It’s not common for your femaleJapanese co-workers to hear these comments but all they do isgiggle quietly next to you when you’d really like them to helpyou. It’s a culture of extremes I’d have to say!”

In much of Asia one is expected to be fanatically loyal to one’s company – a tattoo of the company logo across the forehead would do much in securing a pay rise. Exceptions are made for foreigners who are known to be so anarchistic as to change jobs if their boss treats them like shit. Still you’ll do well not to ever disagree with your superiors. If they give you a crazy order just nod submissively, promise to do it right away and then promptly forget about it once you’re outside the office.

If you’re teaching kids in Asia remember that they have already been at school for 7 hours that day. Then they’re sent to your English ‘cram-school’ by their ambitious parents and when they finally get home they have to do 3 hours of homework. Forgive them if they’re a little pissed off with the arrangement. Let them have as much fun as possible because the rest of their childhood is being eaten by the social obsession with getting ahead.